homeini urges his followers to arm against U.S.
United Press International dents. The 13 released hostages, all women attacked. agreement on what can he done to bring United States reported by the official Pars House of Representatives Banking
RAN, Iran — bans military has and blacks, are back in the United States, “The Islamic Republican Army, while about release of the hostages and also to set news agency, told Iranians to “equip mittee has agreed to investigate the
United Press International
IRAN, Iran — Iran’s military has
airspace over Qom, headquarters of
|t(|llah Ruhollah Khomeini, and is
ingan emergency plan to mobilize all
r and irregular armed forces after a
do so by the ayatollah, a newspaper
o the Islamic clergy reported today.
Iranian moves came as U.N. Secret-
eneral Kurt Waldheim announced
j5-member Security Council would
I this afternoon at his request on the
Ton in Iran, where for the 24th day, 49
jeans are being held hostage in the
mbassv hv militant Moslem stu
dents. The 13 released hostages, all women
and blacks, are back in the United States,
and have suffered no physical harm, but are
so far declining to discuss their capitivity in
any depth.
“The Qom airspace has been closed to all
kinds of transportation and even passenger
aircraft have no permission to overfly
Qom,” ground forces commander Gen.
Valiollah Fallahi said in an interview with
the Jomhouri Island (Islamic Republic)
newspaper.
“In case of need, a mobilization order
will be issued,” he said, adding all Iranian
tribesmen would be mobilized if Iran was
attacked.
“The Islamic Republican Army, while
expressing thanks for (public) offers to de
fend the country’s borders against attack,
assures all Iranians that all ground, air and
sea attacks will be beaten back with full
force,” an armed forces communique said.
Waldheim, who called the situation “the
most serious threat to peace” since the
1962 Cuban missile crisis, said he was in
formed that acting Iranian Foreign Minis
ter Abol Hassan Bani-Sadr would come to
New York Saturday, earlier than originally
expected.
The council is expected to try to reach
agreement on what can be done to bring
about release of the hostages and also to set
up an international commission, under Un
ited Nations auspices, to “investigate the
shah’s having violated human rights and
taken property of people in Iran.”
In Washington, the State Department
announced “nonessential diplomats and
their families have been advised to leave
their posts in 10 other Moslem countries in
the Middle East and South Asia. A spokes
man refused to name the countries since
some of them have not been officially noti
fied.
Khomeini, in his latest attack against the
United States reported by the official Pars
news agency, told Iranians to “equip
yourselves and train yourselves and your
friends for military purposes to confront
the satanic power — the United States.”
Outside the diplomatic compound in the
Iranian capital, sword-bearing Moslems
demanding Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi
be returned to Iran, gathered Monday
chanting, “We will kill Carter with sword
and fist!”
But there were some signs —at least to
Iranians — of possible diplomatic progress.
Bani-Sadr personally contacted Iran’s
state-run radio to announce the U.S.
House of Representatives Banking Com
mittee has agreed to investigate the “finan
cial corruption of the shah.” The commit
tee chairman in Washington said he would
support hearings but would prefer a world
body make such an inquiry.
The radio, which broke into its program
ming to announce the news, said, “The day
and night endeavor to explain the facts to
America and the world public opinion have
borne their first fruit.”
The proposal for a Congressional inquiry
was made by Rep. George Hansen, R-
Idaho, who is in Tehran on an unofficial
“mercy mission.”
HE Battalion
Elephant Walk
73 No. 60
iges
Tuesday, November 27, 1979
College Station, Texas
USPS 045 360
Phone 845-2611
With the University of Texas football game each year
comes the symbolic demise of Aggie seniors — Elephant
Walk.
Elephant Walk will begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday, accord
ing to Pete Greaves, head yell leader.
Before the Texas game, Aggie seniors gather by the
flagpole in front of the Academic Building and wander
aimlessly about the campus like old elephants about to die,
symbolizing the fact that they will graduate soon and thus
be of no further usei to the Twelfth Man.
Greaves said the yell leaders and redpots will lead the
event, which will end with a senior yell practice at the
Bonfire stack.
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Helmet'Bi
fly ANGELIQUE COPELAND
Battalion Reporter
feycles and pedestrians are like oil and
ter: they don t mix, said a student biker-
rat a meeting sponsored by the student
at Texas A&M University Monday
it
parate routes on campus for pedes-
and bikers was just one solution
|d by students at the meeting to help
e the congestion on sidewalks in
te areas of campus.
Bettencourt, vice president for
and regulations, said the main pur-
of the meeting was to get student
mse in three areas: the scope of the
ipus bike-pedestrian problem, ideas for
|ions to the problem, and how effective
ised solutions, including banning
from central campus, would be.
the 28 students attending the meet-
ilmost all agreed that a traffic problem
exist, but most said that other solutions
Id be tried before bicycles are actually
Jed.
ilutions offered included more bike
I, restriction of pedestrians from side-
ramps and increased enforcement of
tie traffic regulations.
One student referred to a plan adopted
by the University of California that created
special routes and elevated ramps for bicy
cles only that had relieved campus conges
tion. He suggested a similar plan could be
adopted on the A&M campus and that
architecture or engineering classes might
use the problem as possible class projects.
On the California campus pedestrians
are also restricted to surfaces covered in
Prairie film while bicycles keep to the con
crete paths.
Another student recommended an in
creased awareness campaign to educate all
students about traffic problems and ask for
more consideration from both pedestrians
and bicycle riders.
“Education, not legislation is the answer
to the problem,” he said.
John Kennedy, an off-campus graduate
senator, said that stricter enforcement of
bicycle traffic regulations would not be an
effective solution until the administration
began actively to support such action.
“Last year the University Police issued
only 26 tickets to bicyclists,” Kennedy said.
“Until the administration supports more
enforement of the bike regulations, the
University will be powerless to enforce
whatever restrictions are placed on
bikers.
Bettencourt said the senate will consider
all suggestions and then advise the Univer
sity Traffic Panel before any regulations are
passed. He said that the panel, composed
of 13 faculty members and 8 student mem
bers, had considered banning bike from
the central campus if other alternatives did
not provide a reasonable solution to the
congestion problem.
He defined central campus as the mall
areas around the Memorial Student Center
to the Academic Building and Harrington
Center.
Two bills expected to pass at the next
senate meeting will create bike lanes on
both sides of Spence Street from the Com
mons to Zachry, and bring pressure on the
highway department to speed contruction
of traffic lights at the Joe Route-Wellborn
Highway intersection, Bettencourt said.
Bettencourt said that a return to manda
tory registration of bicycles was also being
considered, but that was not seen as a ma
jor solution to the problem since more peo
ple have been registering their bicycles
since the policy was made voluntary last
Hi
nan accused
undergo
of attempted air piracy
psychiatric examination
Roaring 20s at A&M
Kristen Childs as Velma and Melanie Adam as Roxie the touring production to Rudder Auditorium for a
strike a pose in “R.S.V.P.”, the finale to the Broad- Monday night performance. For a review of “Chica-
way musical “Chicago.” MSC Town Hall brought go,” see page 3.
United Press International
PASO — An 18-year-old ex-soldier
seel of attempting to hijack a Los
les-bound jetliner to Iran will under-
sychiatric examination if a motion by
urt-appointed lawyer is granted,
raid James Hill Jr. of Chester, Mass.,
arged from the service in October for
tal reasons” after three weeks of adv-
infantry training in Georgia, has
held in El Paso County Jail in lieu of
1,000 bond for the attempted hijacking
relay of an American Airlines jet.
11 is officially charged with assaulting a
member of an aircraft, an offense pun-
le by up to 20 years in prison and a
000 fine. But federal prosecutors said a
|e detailed indictment — that might
de a charge of attempted air piracy —
d also be sought.
i evidence indicates a deadly weapon
used in the assault, Hill could face an
terminate amount of time in prison or
life sentence,
ill boarded American Airlines flight
jin San Antonio Saturday and allegedly
Dele from his seat wielding a 13-inch
hunting knife as the plane taxied at the El
Paso International Airport.
Hill detained seven crew members and
most of the male passengers on the plane
and demanded to be flown to Iran, officials
said. The women, children and one elderly
male passenger out of the 73 on board were
allowed to deplane.
FBI agents stormed the plane — which
lacked transatlantic capability — about four
hours later, capturing Hill. No one was
injured.
Hill attorney John A. Langford said
Monday he will submit several motions
soon, including one seeking the psychiatric
testing.
An FBI spokesman said earlier that Hill
was discharged from the Army for “mental
reasons.” The official FBI report on the
incident was not expected to be finished for
about a week, a Justice Department official
said.
“We’ve got plenty of time to file under
the air piracy. We won’t be jumping into an
indictment right away,” spokesman Mike
McDonald said.
Although he was arraigned before a
judge following his arrest Saturday, Hill
appeared before U.S. Magistrate Harry
Lee Hudspeth Monday, accompanied for
the first time by an attorney.
Clad in an Army green T-shirt, blue
jeans and tennis shoes, Hill fingered the
stubble on his chin and said “Yes, your
honor,” indicating to Hudspeth he under
stood the charge against him.
Meanwhile, Marcus Wright, chief of the
air security office with the Federal Aviation
Administration’s Dallas office, said FAA in
spectors checked security devices at the
San Antonio airport Nov. 14 and found
them working properly.
A second inspection — conducted after
the incident — yielded the same results, he
said.
Wright declined to say whether oper
ators at the airport were responsible for the
breach in the security system, but said an
FAA inspector had spoken with the airlines
and the incident could not be repeated.
Wright said Saturday’s incident was a
fluke.
“If the same guy was to try the same
thing today, he’d be in jail,” he said.
Tanker fire off Galveston coast
may burn out by end of week
United Press International
GALVESTON — A 27-day fire aboard
the wrecked tanker Burmah Agate is ex
pected to burn itself out this week, say
firefighters, and the Coast Guard is prepar
ing for a large-scale recovery effort in case
there are more oil leaks at that time.
Burmah Oil Tankers Ltd. owns the 772-
foot tanker which collided Nov. 1 with the
freighter Mimosa, killing 32 crewmen. The
Mimosa was moved to a shipyard, but the
Agate has burned and spilled oil ever since
the accident.
“The tanks that are on fire have a lot of
seawater in them and there’s oil floating on
top of it. How much is oil and how much is
water we don’t know,” Jack Warfield, a
Burmah spokesman said. Officials have
estimated half the cargo has been burned
or lost into thq sea.
Warfield said Dutch and American fire
fighters battling the blaze decided, after
one unsuccessful attempt to extinguish it
with chemical foam, that letting the blaze
burn itself out was the best course.
along the coast. No new oil washups were
reported on beaches.
Teams have worked around the vessel
and onshore to clean up the pollution
which Warfield said has cost Burmah $2.8
million. Cost of firefighting and salvage
efforts have not yet been determined.
“People like to think, in this age of moon
landings, that there’s technology that can
solve all our problems, but the best thing
really is to let it burn,” he said.
Scattered sections of 150 miles of beach
from Galveston southwestward have been
splotched with spilled oil and the Coast
Guard said today burnt oil residue 3 to 5
feet wide and several feet long trailed eas
terly from the tanker, turning to southerly
The vessel was carrying 16 million gal
lons of crude oil to Houston refineries
when the collision happened just outside
the entrance to Galveston Bay and the busy
Houston Ship Channel.
Because the accident happened outside
the 3-mile limit of U.S. territorial waters,
Liberia, the country in which both ships
were registered, is conducting the official
investigation of the accident.
■ champ 5 '
fexas motorcycle fatalities up since helmet law change
By JACKIE FAIR
Battalion Reporter
Since August 1977, when Texas law was
changed to make helmets optional for
motorcyclists over 18 years old, the motor
cycle fatality rate has increased threefold,
H.F. Goldsmith of the Texas Safety Coun
cil said.
Texas is one of 27 states that rejected the
1976 National Safety Act requiring hel
mets. California was the first state to lobby
against the restriction arguing that it
should be up to the individual to decide if
he should protect himself.
“Californians believed that helmets
should be worn optionally as seat belts
are,” a National Safety Facts sheet ex
plained. The law was repealed after federal
funds for California’s Motorcycle Safety
Program were withdrawn.
With over half of the states following
California’s trend, the national accident
and fatality rate rose also.
Between 1977 and 1978, motorcycle re
gistrations decreased by 2 percent, but
fatalities increased 12 percent, a motorcy
cle Safety Foundation Report said.
Texas had 321 motorcycle fatalities in
1978, the second highest number in the
nation. California was first with 784 deaths
that year. That is about 15 deaths per
10,000 cyclists, the report said. Texas has
213,000 cyclists.
The high statistics of these states could
be partly due to the good riding weather
almost year round, and the extensive high
ways in both-states, said Gerald Vinson,
assistant research specialist for the Texas
Transportation Institute.
“When the law was valid about 90-99
percent of the riders wore helmets, ” Vin
son said. “With the law repealed, only ab
out 60 percent are wearing helmets.”
With the rising gas prices, motorcycle
sales are likely to increase even greater
than in the 1973 gas crunch, Vinson said.
Cyclists opposing mandatory helmets
argue that their freedom of choice is
violated. Other arguments are that helmets
reduce visibility and hearing, and helmet
straps cause increased neck injuries, a
study by the Texas Transportation Institute
of Texas A&M University shows.
But those arguments are diminishing
with improved helmet engineering. Newer
helmets extend the peripheral vision and,
as Vinson explains, “hearing is already im
paired by the noise of the cycle. A helmet
makes no difference if you want to hear
better.
“If not for their head, maybe the
shield the helmet provides will interest
cyclists who don’t want their face to be used
as a windshield.”
Dr. Myron Koehler and Dr. Curtis W.
Goode of TTI collected data comparing the
increase in motorcycle accidents in Harris
and Dallas counties from Aug. 29, 1976 to
Aug. 28, 1977, when helmets were manda
tory, and from Aug. 29, 1977 to Aug. 28,
1978, when helmets were optional.
Although there was only a 0.8 percent
increase in Harris county, Dallas county
accidents rose 6.4 percent, the Koehler
and Goode study showed. Statewide, be
tween 1975 and 1978, deaths related to
motorcycle accidents rose 41 percent in
Texas, the study indicated.
If a helmet still sounds more uncomfort
able than the statistics, the Koehler and
Goode study reports further:
— The unhelmeted rider is 2.5 times
more likely to die than the helmeted rider.
— The unhelmeted cyclist is 2.67 times
more likely to sustain a head injury that was
either incapacitating or fatal than the hel
meted one.
The Texas A&M campus has some dan
gerous spots to watch for, although the low
speed limits reduce the chances for fatali
ties.
“Even the experienced cyclist has quite
an obstacle course on campus with car
doors flying open, sprinklers creating wet
spots, and pedestrians walking out from
between cars, and these are only a few
problems,” Vinson said.
The streets in College Station have even
more to watch for with speed limits be
tween 45-50 m.p.h. and huge potholes; the
accident potential is great, Vinson said.
However, both the campus police and
the College Station police do not separate
their motorcycle accident records from the
automobile or bicycle accident records.
“It is impossible for us to determine any
increase in motorcycle accidents since the
repeal of the helmet law even if we did
separate the accident reports, Sgt. Paul
Huddleston of the College Station Police
Department said.
But TTI was able to separate their re
cords and subsequently discover the in
crease since the helmet law was repealed.
This increase interested the National
Safety Council as they now offer Motorcy
cle Defensive Driving classes as a two hour
supplement to the Defensive Driving clas
ses for automobiles. Completion of the two
hour course will reduce a motoreyele rid
er’s insurance 10 percent. For more infor
mation call H.F. Goldsmith at 696-4945.